This invention relates to reference electrodes for use in potentiometric measurements.
The art is replete with reference electrodes for potentiometric measurements. Reference electrodes provide a reference potential in electrochemical cells used for the measurement of ion activity. A reference electrode is typically used with an ion selective electrode to obtain a potentiometric signal relating to ion activity in a solution in which the two electrodes are introduced.
In addition to completing the electrical circuit, a reference electrode is supposed to provide a stable and unchanging reference potential.
Heretofore, commercial reference electrodes have typically been relatively expensive and large. Furthermore, many of them take a long time to stabilize when exposed to ionic solutions. While they can eventually provide fairly stable and unchanging reference potentials, many electrodes can take up to 20 minutes or longer to stabilize. This time period allows conventional electrodes to be affected by changes in pressure and temperature.